broadwell sent the threatening e-mails to her and she was frightened and she went to the fbi. oh, i can't believe it. but that's what it is. >> reporter: that frightened woman, jill kelly, serves as an unpaid, "social liaison" to macdill air force base in tampa. she said in a statement we and our family have been friends with general petraeus and his family over five years. we respect his and his family's privacy and want the same for us and our three children. nbc bay area spoke to house minority leader nancy pelosi at a veteran's day event in san francisco and she down played the scandal. >> we have bigger issues to deal with right now. it's breasting to me that with all of the prospects that we have for resolving the fiscal deficit, the cliff, the new administration, all of that, that this is receiving so much attention. >> reporter: the general is not under investigation, but his departure leaves a void just as congress is beginning hearings in to the deadly september attack on the u.s. consulate and u.s. base in libya that killed four americans including u.s. ambassador a